


Have To

by applejwoos (kenmarcadeblues)



Series: Fears of World; Hopes of World; Tears of World [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Gen, Some feels, The Capitol, could be read as a standalone I guess but not recommended, jungwoo is briefly there but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 17:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenmarcadeblues/pseuds/applejwoos
Summary: Caesar Flickerman interviews District 2's male Tribute Wong Yukhei. Here's to hoping his attempt at cognitive dissonance pulls sponsors and doesn't keep him awake at night.





	Have To

**Author's Note:**

> another Thing written for [#LIS](http://aminoapps.com/p/2vb945) in a rush, blah blah blah
> 
> I made a series so yeah! let's see how far this goes!

"Do you think you deserved your Evaluation score?"

"No, not really."

"Should it be higher or lower?"

"I don't know. Doesn't matter to me. I did what I did, and I'm at peace with it." Yukhei can practically hear Hwasa snickering, the way she did last night. And if she really is laughing backstage, he doesn't blame her.

_Everything is goddamn ridiculous._

 

The two District 2 Tributes were gathered around the dining table of their penthouse suite with their mentors and escort.

"If I knew stripping would automatically give me 9 points, I would've went for it, too," she said bitingly, peering over at Yukhei across a platter of glazed duck popovers.

"Jealousy'll get you nowhere," scolded the male mentor, Yixing. "And it wasn't automatic. He showed his skills just fine.”

Zhang Yixing was Victor 4 years ago. He was far from a favorite to win in the beginning of that Hunger Games cycle, despite being a Career. He'd been quiet, awkward, and unassuming. In the end, though, it was his ability to stay low-key that had become his greatest strength.

Yukhei said nothing and tipped back another crystalline glass of alcohol, fancier than he'd ever had in his life, and tried not to think of Ahn Yoojung's v-shaped chin.

 

_The youth grabs a handful and pulls hard, not raising his gaze once. The sound of ripping fabric fills the training room._

_His skin is slick and cold from sweat, and the sweat is from anxiety, but the stingily artificial lights make his muscles shine. He knows the future is rough and he must be a diamond if he wants to survive._

_While his thin shirt is still fluttering to the floor, he saunters over to a rack of spherical weights. Instead of lifting one or two weights, he lifts the whole structure and throws._

_It flies surprisingly far and collides with three stunt dummies, a cacophony of heavy thuds resounding: fake bodies hitting the floor, rack clattering down beside them, weights rolling away into oblivion._

_He spins on his heel and comes to stand squarely in front of the Observation Terrace. He makes eye contact with a white-haired woman dressed in a luxurious blue gown. The head Gamemaker._

_He kisses the pendant around his neck and then raises it up at everyone watching him from above, and therefore at one of the many cameras._

_Having lowered it, he takes his leave towards the exit, but after two steps a Gamemaker's voice booms over the sound system: "You have not been dismissed, Tribute."_

_And then the young man turns around as if it's a burden to do so. "Lucas doesn't wait for dismissal," he declares, and walks off._

 

Caesar Flickerman laughs bemusedly as the video clip ends and the screen behind the stage returns to having 'Wong Yukhei' written in big, golden font. It matches the guest's newly dyed hair. "It just never gets old, am I right folks?"

Loud applause, whistles, and hoots erupt in the studio and Yukhei wants to roll his eyes so hard that they fall out and roll under Cesar's chair, but instead plasters a smirk on his lips. "So I've heard," he replies coolly.

"Okay, so what I'm dying to know—what all of Panem is dying to know—" Yukhei has to fight off the instinct to squirm in his seat, "is: who is Lucas?”

"He's me."

"Oooh," Caesar coos. "Like an alter ego? A second personality?"

"You can think of it that way, but really, it's a stage name. Because Lucas wants to make this Games a show to remember." He winks to the crowd.

_Everything about this is disgusting._

"Wow, a charmer, too! Well we're all looking forward to it," Caesar smiles, teeth so white they're sparkling. He leans forward slightly when he speaks again, smile all but dropped. "Lucas," the emerald-headed man begins conspiratorially, "why did you kiss your necklace?"

"I don't know. It was an in-the-moment thing, I guess."

"Fair enough. But it must be important to you. Why else would you bring it with you and wear it to the Evaluation?"

 

_"Do whatever you have to," said Jungwoo, Yukhei's second and last designated goodbye following his mother, a woman who had shed no tears and was barely concerned at all, having been out of it as usual. Jungwoo cares enough for at least ten people, and it's both the best and worst thing in the world. "Just survive somehow, okay?"_

_"Okay," Yukhei replied softly, like the young man in front of him would shatter._

_Red rimmed Jungwoo's eyes and his smile ached. "I believe in you." Nestled in his palm laid a gold-chained necklace with a red jewel._

 

Yukhei hopes he swallows the lump in his throat inconspicuously. "Someone gave it to me. Someone who means a lot. That's all I'm going to say about it." He runs the pendant between his thumb and middle finger, the metal backing slightly warm where it rests against the skin below his collarbones. He pretends the warmth is Jungwoo's arms around him.

Caesar quirks his eyebrows theatrically and sits back in his seat. "Noted."

The next questions thrown at Yukhei are: "Your lips are natural, right?" and "What about your body? How'd you do that?" The nineteen year old finds himself kissing and flexing at the camera, his dignity further eroding away.

Pangs of self-pity ricochet through his chest and for a moment, he wishes for death, mostly in the metaphorical sense, right here beneath the stage lights.

_But a promise is a promise._

Jungwoo told him to stay alive. And so he will, doing whatever he has to.


End file.
